Petals on The Moon || Reyna Ramirez-Arellano x Fem!OC

LXXII

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Hello again.

"Maybe I'll just go out with him," Reyna mumbled. I didn't like to hear about this, which was unwarranted and rude of me, so I shut up and listened anyways. "I haven't had a boyfriend. Ever. Nobody will shut up about it."

"You don't need to date someone just because everyone thinks you should," I mumbled.

"Well, I think I should." I stared at her. She was just focused on organizing her binder. "That's why I'm doing it."

"So... you're not gonna go out with him because you actually like him, but rather, because you think you should have a boyfriend." She glared at me. "I'm not trying to be mean. But you should only date someone if you really really want to, or if you think you like them." Frankly, it sounded like she was just trying to make everyone else shut up.

"I really really want to," she said, which sounded a bit like a lie.

"But, I thought you liked-" Someone passed by. "I thought you liked someone else."

"Well, he's unavailable," Reyna said. "And it'd be wrong. We're all friends." I busied myself with looking through my pens to see which ones were out of ink. "I need to get over it."

I wanted to warn her not to. I tried that with Claire, and it ended in my head being hit, my brother being arrested, and my now-ex serving Saturn and the Titans. But Reyna seemed defensive. "Um... okay."

"Why are you so against this?"

"Because it feels like you're compensating for something," I finally said. "You don't need to like somebody or date someone just because everyone else is, or because they all say you should."

That was only the part truth. I have a feeling about Reyna. I think it also has to do with the Sight of Somnus thing. Too many things make sense, but also, too many things make no sense. How she was just too busy for a boyfriend during the summer, but now she wants one. How she only suddenly decided she even wants to start dating, but seems like she's doing it out of obligation. And the way she reacts to gay people.

I think she's gay and doesn't know it.

I don't know how else I can explain it, because it seems like a terrible thing to say about my best friend. And maybe it's just wishful thinking. But it's too strong of a gut feeling for me to just dismiss it altogether. It distracted me all through class, and we broke off to go to our separate classes after that one ended.

I thought about it. I knew I should tell her something. Help her through something, because she has already helped me through so much. Something is so wrong about this that it's making me sick. And it's not because I like her. It has nothing to do with that, actually. I wish she was straight. It'd make her not liking me feel a little bit better, because then it would just be blamed on her romantic interests.

But I don't think that's right.

I finally just flipped a coin. Heads I tell her, tails I stay quiet. I flipped heads. So I went searching for Reyna in the courtyard, since I know her next period is across the school and she typically cuts through there to get to her class in time.

"Reyna!" She turned around to look at me, and I awkwardly jogged up to her before stopping. "I- I need to talk to you." She waited. "I don't think you should do this."